The New Rochelle Art Association (NRAA) was founded in 1912 by artists and residents of the city of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York. By 1912 the community had transformed into a true artists colony, home to many notable artists of the time including Frederic Remington, Alta West Salisbury, Edward Kemble, Rufus Fairchild Zogbaurn, Orson Lowell, F. Wellingon Ruckstuhl, Ernest Albert, Homer Emons, Frederick Dana Marsh, Remington Schuyler, Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock, George T. Tobin, Leon Shafer, Charles Ayer, Herman Lambden and Armand Both.
Founding
For years there had been informal meetings in the studios of various artists, often with guests invited out from New York City. In 1912, however, Alta Salisbury West proposed that a more formal group be formed – the New Rochelle Art Association. The original group of artists included Charles F. Ayer, Frederick Dana Marsh, Remington Schuyler, Herman Lambden, George T. Tobin, Armand Booth, Leon Schafer, Lucius Hitchcock and Orson Lowell. Mrs. West became the first president. The Art Association produced its first public exhibition in 1914 as part of the celebrations surrounding the opening of the new Carnegie Public Library on Main Street which included both a large and small public exhibition room. This exhibition, organized under the auspices of the Art Section of the Woman's Club of New Rochelle, was the first exhibition of the New Rochelle Art Association. There were 140 juried entries of paintings and sculpture, including a painting by Frederic Remington and an outstanding bronze bust of Augustus Thomas by Robert Aitken.
The exhibiting artists included:
That exhibition was just the first of many at the library. The members of the Art Association continued to use the library to show their work. There were both group shows, generally featuring a particular media, and ones featuring various individual artists. Shows in the first few years included one devoted to the work of Frederick Dana Marsh and one to Milton Mayer, and a group show of the Association of Women Painters and Sculptors of New York City.
Organization
On January 4, 1920, a notice appeared on the bottom of New Rochelle's Evening Standard advertising the annual meeting of all members of the NRAA at the home of Orson Lowell. This was the meeting where the Art Association was formally organized and its aims set forth. Its stated plan was to cooperate with the Community Service which was promoting education, literacy and civic betterment programs in New Rochelle. By holding regular exhibitions of the highest quality, the association planned to set an educational standard in the fine arts, and in other ways to promote public interest in art in the community. There were three classes of membership: active, associate, and patron. The association was divided into four sections, each with a chairman and secretary, who had representation on the central board composed of the officers.
Board
President: Frederick Dana Marsh
Vice President: Orson Lowell
Second Vice President: Julius Prince
Secretary: Elizabeth Ayer
Treasurer: E. Irvins Hanson
Sections of the NRAA
Painter's and Sculptors - Chairman: Alta West Salisbury; Secretary: John W. Fenton Architects and Interior Decorators - Chairman: Laulnce L. Barnard; Secretary: Paul M. ReillY Illustrators and Cartoonists - Chairman: Remington Schuyler; Secretary: George E. Giguere Arts and Crafts - Chairman: Miss Mary G. Griggs; Secretary: none chosen
There were no known written by-laws of the association until 1929, when, under the laws of the State of New York, the New Rochelle Art Association was required to develop its own constitution and by-laws for a membership corporation. In the early 1930s the constitution and by-laws were updated to again meet state requirements, this time for a non-profit membership corporation.
Exhibitions
In 1920, after the association had been organized into its four main sections, the 'Fine Arts Room' of the library was acquired for the group's use. The first exhibition was put on by the 'Illustrators Section' and 57 paintings in every medium were displayed. The following year the exhibit included the Knickerbocker Press and The Little Print Press, both of New Rochelle, and showed the various processes used to make books. The 'Painters Section' soon followed with their own exhibit, followed by the 'Cartoonists'. Next there was the "Little Picture Show" and the "Sketch Exhibit" which both became annual events.